


It’s Not Revenge

by Clemonade



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26645698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clemonade/pseuds/Clemonade
Summary: Link’s got the blues in this New Hyrule he’s woken up in.
Kudos: 14





	It’s Not Revenge

When Link first wakes up in the Shrine of Resurrection, it’s all kind of exciting. He gets a second chance at life, he’s got a purpose and a cool slate thing that lets him throw metal objects at monsters. By the time he leaps into the ether off the Great Plateau he thinks _well, this is a bit of a rush_.

And then he’s traversing the country on his own two feet. The more monsters he battles, the more mundane it becomes, he’s aware his limbs are moving but he’s not controlling them. Someone who was born for the fight is in charge. The more wrinkly old ladies claim he’s some great hero and implore him to save the Princess, the smaller he feels. 

“Find your memories,” she says “remember who you are” well what if he doesn’t remember? What then? 

It’s lonely in the wild. His heart pulls him left, right, dragging him around desperately seeking connection. But all people want is his sword, or his strength, or his ability to catch bugs.

When he finds himself outside Gerudo Town, something plucks at his fractured soul _this time_ , he thinks, _this time I’ll find someone, I can feel it_. 

An infinitesimal quirk of his lip is all the evidence of his lighthearted mood. Hope and desperation churn in his gut. Or maybe it’s the dread of being dressed as a vai. Erecting another barrier between him and a potential friend. 

Marching in to the market he _knows_ that they know he’s not a she at all. He sees the raised eyebrows, the barely stifled giggles but he’s committed and he’s determined to make a friend, even if he’s lying about who he is. 

He plays it cool, leaning casually against the city walls and cracking sealiously bad puns. In fact, there’s a few of them that make him think to stop and write them down to relay to the Princess later when it occurs to him that he doesn’t know the Princess. Is that something she’d appreciate? Would she find them contrite? He pauses, his pen scraping a harsh line straight down the page as he lets out a dejected sigh, words barely legible. He should have used the slate anyway. 

He leaves with Riju, gets on the Divine Beast and once again rides pillion in his own body as the horrors that lurk are exterminated. She says thanks he thinks but all he hears are muffled background noises. She says something about more quests for him to do. He obliges. Then she thrusts that bizarre helmet into his hands and he’s not really sure what to do with it. 

And now he’s back in the wild. The plastic smiles leave a bitter taste at the back of his mouth. 

Left foot, right foot... he’s doesn’t have a destination, just a goal of moving. He feels useful if he moves. He feels like he could be-

“Wait a minute! Please, think about what you’re doing!” It feels like he’s just opened his eyes for the first time in days. “You’re fine. Just don’t be so careless there are too many enjoyable things in the world to gamble with your life!”

Link shakes his shaggy locks, tries to clear the haze. He’s standing on the edge of Proxim Bridge, the toes of his boots hanging over the edge, the wind rippling angrily beneath.

Stepping down he sees the taught line of Brigo’s shoulders relax a little. “Man! Don’t ever do something like that ever again,got it? You almost-“

Link doesn’t hear what he almost did, he felt the all too familiar hot prickling behind his eyes and he hoofed it out of there. His hood drawn up he’s crashing blindly across the fields until he stumbles upon East Post Ruins. He lights a fire. His face dries. His eyes dry out more. There’s a yawning cavern inside and it’s consuming. He can’t even bring himself to cook meals anymore, living on apples and nuts he can scavenge staves off the worst of the needling in his gut. 

He wonders if the guy in his scattered memories ever told the princess how he felt before... before he failed and doomed them all. He wonders if she will be his friend when he gets there.

The hole gets darker. More logs are thrown on the fire. His palms are clammy and his heart stutters in his chest.

He wonders if he’ll ever get back in the drivers seat of his mind, if he’ll ever enjoy wielding a sword like that guy did. He wonders if he ever told her he’s the silent princess to her sun. Turning, following her as she arcs across the sky.

His face is wet again.

The air gets heavy, then it feels as if everything is being sucked towards a vacuous octorok. The sky hisses and spits into a deathly red, malice seeps from Hyrule herself. And then he hears her. “The blood moon rises once again. Please, be careful Link.” The sound of her voice fills him with radiance and sunshine for a beat of his heart and he’d have a blood moon everyday if he could just hear her again, just once more.

But she’s gone and he’s chuckling. _How can she be so concerned for me? She has endured 100 years of battle, destined to emerge from a hollow victory, yet she is cautioning me. She’s scared. For me_. 

He realised then that it didn’t matter that he couldn’t really remember anything much from before because it’s not about who you were or who you were born to be. It’s about who you’d die for. He’d done it once and he’d do it again. 

A wicked grin on his face that Demise himself would fear, he stands. Shakes off the darkness he was convinced was adhered to his soul; grabs onto that sweet sunshine nectar that he can taste on the air, cutting through the grime of malice and marches into Hyrule Castle.

It’s not revenge he’s after, he’s returning the favour, Ganon.


End file.
